Hamilton board extends interim schools chief's contract

Martin Griff/The Times of Trenton Interim public schools Superintendent James Sheerin speaks at a Hamilton Board of Education meeting on courtesy busing on Wednesday, August 17, 2011. The meeting took place at the Hamilton Board of Education building.

HAMILTON — A new superintendent may be announced in early January, but in the meantime, school board members have voted to extend the current interim superintendent’s contract until the end of February.

“We’re in the process of negotiating with a candidate. We can’t announce his name until we know if he’ll accept a position,” school board president Patricia DelGiudicetold The Times.

The school board earlier this year hoped to appoint a new superintendent by the end of December, but DelGiudice said yesterday that salary and contract details are still being negotiated with a candidate who currently works for another district.

At a meeting Monday, the nine-member board voted unanimously in executive session to move forward with one candidate to serve as superintendent. DelGiudice would not say where the candidate is from or reveal any details in order to preserve the confidentiality of the process.

DelGiudice did say a special school board session is scheduled for Jan. 11 at the district office at 90 Park Ave. A meeting time will be posted on the school district’s website, http://www.hamilton.k12.nj.us/, DelGiudice said.

In June, the school board chose James Sheerin for the position of interim superintendent to run the 13,000-student district until the end of this year. Sheerin, an educational consultant and veteran school administrator who served as interim superintendent in the East Windsor Regional School District from February 2003 to January 2004, is paid $682 a day.

Sheerin will serve as superintendent through February, and he will work with the business administrator to prepare a proposed 2012-2013 school budget, DelGiudice said.

Consultants Judith Ferguson and Jamie Savedoff of the Illinois-based Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates were chosen to lead a second superintendent search earlier this year.

Former superintendent Neil Bencivengo, who worked in the district for 40 years, including 15 as superintendent, retired June 30, but after an initial search, the board did not approve a permanent successor.